1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to nestable shopping carts more particularly, to a multiple child seat nestable shopping cart.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Nestable carts are well known for use at supermarkets, department stores, airports, and other environments where the carts are made available on a self-service basis and must be stored while not in use. These carts, in particular, generally include a metal or plastic chassis for supporting a basket having a rear panel that pivots upward upon being engaged by the front portion of a similar basket on another cart. The basket in the second cart can then be fitted inside, or "nested," within a rear portion of the basket of the first cart so that numerous carts can be neatly and compactly arranged facing front-to-back in a single line. One such cart is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,347 to Chiv which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, a variety of other cart designs, such as luggage carts, may also be nestable.
In conventional nestable carts, a foldable child seat is often added to the rear panel of the basket. In one common arrangement for such a foldable seat, the back support panel of the seat is pivotally attached to the chassis near the bottom of the rear basket panel. A fold down seat panel then traverses the back support panel and the rear basket panel to form a child seat inside the basket near the upper portion of the rear basket panel. Generally, the child seat is arranged so that the child's torso is inside the basket while the child's legs extend through openings in the back panel.
Such child seats generally have room for only one child. Furthermore, as children grow, these child seats are confining and uncomfortable for the child, often resulting in restless behavior.
Numerous patents disclose shopping carts with dual child seats for allowing a second child to ride somewhere other than in the basket or on the frame. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,114 to Downing et al. discloses a shopping cart having two child seats, arranged side-by-side, facing backwards in the basket portion of the cart. However, such carts have to be extremely wide in order to accommodate larger children and the seat portion of these carts often takes up a significant amount of space in the basket. Moreover, it is difficult to keep the children separated from each other in order to reduce annoying bickering.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,122 to Doty discloses a shopping cart attachment which allows two children to ride backwards, facing front to back, with only one child taking up space inside the basket. Although the Doty device addresses the problem of excessive cart width, it creates a new problem where the child in the rear seat can be easily taunted by, but can not see or defend against, the other child in the seat behind him. This arrangement also does not allow either child to see where the cart is going.
Since the foldable child seats in lighter weight carts are generally located at the upper portion of the rear panel of the basket, a heavy child who is seated in the foldable seat will significantly (and perhaps unexpectedly to a user who is unfamiliar with the lighter-weight carts) raise the center of gravity of the cart, especially when the rest of the basket is empty or the child attempts to stand up.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,801 to Vicany discloses a cart with a single, lower, front-facing seat extending across the rear width of the cart for providing a lower center of gravity. However, it can be difficult to accommodate two large children in such an arrangement for the same reasons as noted above with regard to the side-by-side arrangement in Downing et al. In addition, both Downing et al. and Vicany disclose seating areas in which a portion of the child's body is not protected by the structure of the cart.
Due to the large number of shopping carts currently in use, an economically viable approach to multiple child carrying carts will utilize this existing inventory of carts without significantly reducing their overall functionality. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,548 to Reiland et al. discloses a multiple child carrier accessory which attaches to an existing shopping cart using a large and cumbersome mounting bracket. The device includes a carrier body with left and right forward-facing seat areas and a center divider which generally prevents the riders from interacting. Although children in this carrier are somewhat protected by the side support portions formed in each seat, their legs and feet are still not protected. Moreover, the seats in the carrier accessory are arranged at approximately the same height as the foldable seat in the basket and thus may significantly raise the overall center of gravity for the carrier and cart when occupied.
Another challenge encountered by the designer of a multiple child seat shopping cart is how to maintain the nesting relationship between carts when a multiple child seat is provided at the rear area of the cart. For example, while an auxiliary unit located behind the main shopping cart basket might present a practical approach to providing multiple child seats for a shopping cart, such an auxiliary unit would need to enable some form of nesting between similar shopping carts to minimize storage space required for idle carts.